Dear Amy: I have a co-worker who has terrible grammar.
Sure, we all make grammar mistakes from time to time, but his is really bad all the time and people are starting to laugh at him or make glances to other team members about it when he makes presentations.
I believe English is his first and only spoken language (we all have our spoken languages documented in case a customer requires specific language help).
However, I don’t think anyone corrects him.
I don’t know him very well, but he is in my business circle. However, he is one level higher than me in the hierarchy.
I hate to see this guy be the butt of co-worker jokes and for people not to take him seriously.
The only idea I have so far is to distribute or post a “common grammar mistakes” document and try to tie it in with an acronym guide for all staff members.
It still could come across as a targeted message, however, as he is the acronym king.
Is there a better way to address this, or should I just leave it alone?
— Correct Co-worker
Dear Correct: First of all, “The Acronym King” is most definitely my superhero name.
Distributing a list of “common grammar mistakes” might be a good idea for your entire team, certainly if you all interact directly with customers. However, I don’t think this cheat sheet would necessarily have a positive impact on the co-worker who has the biggest problem, because he may not even hear his errors.
